The Hidden Princess At All-Boys Alpha Academy Chapter 117

“Hey,” Luca calls from the couch, drawing both of our gaze to him. “How much longer is this little homework session going to last? Getting a little…loud. Over there.”

Jesse, his eyes still on his book, smirks at Luca’s clear jealousy.

“Fifteen more minutes,” Jackson calls back. Luca narrows his eyes but turns back to his homework.

“I mean,” Jackson murmurs, leaning close to whisper in my ear, “if you want to refocus the exploding attempt on a new target, the couch would also be…fine…”

I burst out laughing at this, slapping a hand over my mouth to muffle the sound so Luca doesn’t know how hard Jackson has made me laugh, but also because I remember what Ben said about me laughing like a girl.

When I look back at Jackson, I see he’s doing his best to suppress a smile.

“All right,” I say, straightening my shoulders and focusing again on the marble. “Let’s try again.”

We spend about ten minutes sitting in silence then, with me focusing hard, Jackson’s hand tight in my own. As we go, heat wells in my body, building and building. I’m fascinated by it, especially by the comparison with Tony’s magic, which cooled me down.

But no matter what I do…nothing happens to the marble.

I’m trying a new tactic – attempting to transform the marble into something else, rather than move or destroy it – when Jackson startles me a little by speaking again.

“Hey, is she…is she okay?” Jackson whispers.

I almost let go of his hand, spinning my head towards him.

“What?” My word is nothing more than a puff of breath.

“My mate,” he says, studying my eyes seriously.

I just stare at him.

“Please,” Jackson says, all earnest honesty. “I know we got off to a bad, weird start – and I really am sorry for that. But I know you remember that first night, out by the pool. My mate – she’s around somewhere, I keep catching whiffs of her all over this castle and campus. But I can’t figure out for the life of me what’s going on. But,” his brows draw together now as he frowns at me, “I know you know something, Clark. I know this is somehow connected to you.”

I begin to lean away, a little afraid, and he clicks his tongue, sighing and leaning closer to me, keeping our intimate distance the same.

“Please,” he murmurs, “I’m sorry – I don’t – I’m not very aware of like, when I’m being intimidating or whatever. I’m not trying to…” he hesitates, at a loss for words, and I exhale an unsteady breath, sitting back up straight.

“I am not trying to…do anything, Clark,” Jackson says, still peering at me, almost unblinking. “It’s just…god, she’s my mate!” His voice cracks a little, breaking my heart. “You don’t have to tell me anything,” he insists, shaking his head. “But…if you know something…just….is she okay?”

“Jackson,” I sigh, my wolf nipping at me, her whole body pressed against my heart, urging me to tell him everything, to let him off the hook he’s clearly hanging from by the tips of his fingers. “Jackson, she’s fine, all right?”

He exhales a huge breath then, staring at me in both disbelief and relief at once.

“She’s okay,” I insist, nodding earnestly to him. “Just…that’s all I can say, all right? There’s…reasons for it. But I promise you that she’s fine, that you don’t have to worry about her.”

“Well of course I’m going to worry about her,” he snaps, his brows knitting together again.

And despite myself I laugh, just a little bit. “But you don’t need to. She’s cared for – I promise. In good hands.”

Jackson takes a deep breath, and as he exhales it he tilts his head back and closes his eyes, a whole well of tension I didn’t realize he was holding leaving his muscles in a rush.

And as the tension goes, I am suddenly flooded with warmth. So much so that I gasp aloud, and drop his hand, and almost yelp a little bit, skittering away from him across the bed.

“What?” he gasps, snapping his face back to me. “What, Clark!?”

But I just stare at him, shocked, the warmth still rushing through me, though it’s starting to fade now.

“Whoa,” a voice says from the room beyond my nook, and both Jackson and I turn our heads to see Jesse staring at my bed.

My eyes move immediately to the marble on my chemistry book and I gasp again.

“Hoooooly shit,” Jackson murmurs, leaning forward to stare.

Because the marble – it melted. Completely melted into a little puddle of glass that is now again hardening against the ruined cover of my textbook.